Multiple episodes of ice loss from the Wilkes Subglacial Basin during the Last Interglacial

The Last Interglacial (LIG: 130,000-115,000 years ago) was a period of warmer global mean temperatures and higher and more variable sea levels than the Holocene (11,700-0 years ago). Therefore, a better understanding of Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics during this interval would provide valuable insight...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Iizuka, M, Seki, O, Wilson, DJ, Suganuma, Y, Horikawa, K, Van de Flierdt, T, Ikehara, M, Itaki, T, Irino, T, Yamamoto, M, Hirabayashi, M, Matsuzaki, H, Sugisaki, S
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023
Subjects:
Antarctic
East Antarctic Ice Sheet
East Antarctica
Wilkes Land
Wilkes Subglacial Basin
Antarc*
Antarctica
ice core
Ice Sheet
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/103508
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37325-y
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Summary:The Last Interglacial (LIG: 130,000-115,000 years ago) was a period of warmer global mean temperatures and higher and more variable sea levels than the Holocene (11,700-0 years ago). Therefore, a better understanding of Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics during this interval would provide valuable insights for projecting sea-level change in future warming scenarios. Here we present a high-resolution record constraining ice-sheet changes in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) of East Antarctica during the LIG, based on analysis of sediment provenance and an ice melt proxy in a marine sediment core retrieved from the Wilkes Land margin. Our sedimentary records, together with existing ice-core records, reveal dynamic fluctuations of the ice sheet in the WSB, with thinning, melting, and potentially retreat leading to ice loss during both early and late stages of the LIG. We suggest that such changes along the East Antarctic Ice Sheet margin may have contributed to fluctuating global sea levels during the LIG.

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